This last week we have witnessed the declaration by Al (Sore Loserman) Gore that the problem of global warming is a "no longer a scientific debate, it is a moral issue." Yesterday, I saw a commercial that showed some old white guy who said that the "scientific evidence shows that the irreversible effects" of global warming won’t occur until thirty years from now. Of course, the fellow is standing on a railroad track with the train coming. He announces "that won’t affect me" as he steps off the track. The picture then moves to a little girl, who, the commercial implies, gets run over by the train. This obviously contends that an indifference to global warming now will kill our children.
As the rhetoric on the issue heats up (so to speak), we must congratulate the California government for solving the crisis. Less than two months after AB 32 took effect, California and the rest of the country have suffered record low temperatures. I am impressed at how well that bill has worked. Although, given its effectiveness so far, no further action is necessary to implement the bill, I think that current proposals to implement the bill do not go far enough.
One bill, AB 493, assesses an SUV tax. An SUV tax, is that all? That isn’t going to change anyone’s behavior. Do you think that $2500 is going to dissuade Governor Schwarzenegger from driving his Hummer? Do you think such a miniscule tax will stop Senator Feinstein from flying around in her multimillionaire husband’s private jet? Of course not. More stringent laws are necessary.
No, we need laws that punish those pesky scientists who keep saying that the evidence does not prove that any warming that is occurring (if it is) is not man made. They point to the fact that the last period of global warming occurred between the 12th and 16th century A.D. Of course, at that time, the only source of greenhouse gases was cattle flatulence. The cooling that followed, from about 1550 A.D. to 1880 A.D. eliminated the wine regions in Denmark that the previous warming had supported, but no one died.
That period did, however, lead the way in what to do about the pesky scientist who challenge the "majority of scientists" on global warming. They imprisoned Galileo for contending that pull of gravity was a constant. They also villified and imprisoned Keppler for contending that the earth was not the center of the universe. And what about the ridicule of Columbus, who believed the world was not flat? Prison and death awaited those who challenged the scientific majority of the time.
So, why not do what was done in the past? Those scientists who insist on seeking the truth on global warming are obviously corrupting the minds of our youth. We should, therefore, take the lead of Athens, as our Governor has said. We should give those scientists hemlock, just like the Athenians did with Socrates. That will protect our children from the ravages of global warming.